


Saturn Return

by filthycasualsmark (exalteranima)



Series: The Demon At My Side [2]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: (kind of), (thanks for remembering you had a spine Seth), AU where Seth did not crash Takeover San Antonio, Doubt, Introspection, M/M, Reconciliation, Unrequited Crush, cameos from the Cruiserweight division, mentions of Hideo Itami, mentions of Triple H
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 03:08:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9472814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exalteranima/pseuds/filthycasualsmark
Summary: Hours before the Royal Rumble, Seth and Finn have a little chat.A continuation of "The Demon in My Head"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So... I'd been meaning to pick up where "The Demon in My Head" left off for ages now, but couldn't really pick the right time to do it. This will be a really short fic, and I may consider adding a third chapter depending on how the Rumble actually goes.

Maybe it was Seth's imagination, but the streets of San Antonio were buzzing with a strange energy tonight. They were on the road 300 days a year, and the endless monotony of town after town started to wear on you past a certain point. Rumble season, though, somehow it had a whole new magic here, took on a fresh sense of change and new beginnings the way New Year's Eve didn't.

He'd agonized for hours over whether to crash last night's NXT Takeover or not. He knew Hunter would be there, lapping up the crowd's adulation off the backs of guys he'd pirated from all over the world. Seth wonders how many of them heard the same glowing praise and sickly sweet promises he did. In the end he just holed up in his hotel room and distracted himself with hours of Netflix, drowning out the overwhelming urge to go and do something stupid, perpetually torn between catharsis and career suicide. _Fuck, is this how Dean feels all the time?_  was the last thought Seth had before he fell asleep. 

Even here now, in the cold light of day as he ambled over to the Alamodome's backstage entrance wheeling his suitcase alongside him, Seth was _still_ weighing the pros and cons of whether skipping out on Takeover was the wrong decision. The endorphin high from his workout at the gym that morning had already worn off, replaced with the same dread and uncertainty that hounded him for months. Maybe the knee injury _had_ turned him into a pussy, cost him his edge and fighting spirit. 

Pockets of the roster were already there, mostly the guys expected to turn up early for the pre-show. Seth waved at Cesaro as he was ordering his usual at the makeshift coffee bar, tamped down a wistful smile as he spotted Corey Graves and Austin Aries poring over commentary notes in catering, passed an office where Xavier Woods was setting up his rig for a new UpUpDownDown episode. A boisterous racket bounced against the walls of the back hallways, and Seth thought he recognized Rich Swann's voice somewhere in the din. 

True enough, the cruiserweight babyfaces were standing in the corridor outside the locker room, mouthing offhand hellos to Seth as he set up his suitcase at the cubbyhole closest to the door. It was an interesting posse to behold: Cedric Alexander and Mustafa Ali laughing at one of Swann's jokes, TJ Perkins off to the side in deep conversation with Jack Gallagher. All of them were still in suit and tie, though Gallagher as usual went the extra mile with his powder-blue seersucker three-piece and butter-yellow gabardine bowtie. 

As Seth opened his suitcase to take out his ring gear, the commotion in the hallway increased as two new voices joined the fray. There was Noam Dar's familiar deep-voiced accent, and then there was—

Oh.

_Oh._

After the violent shock that was Hunter's double-cross on Raw turned his entire universe upside down, Seth had been so preoccupied with his impromptu face turn he'd mostly succeeded in blocking Finn from his thoughts. Key word being "mostly." It was easy to avoid Finn's social media and turn in the other direction whenever backstage conversation drifted toward him.  Barring that brief blip when Finn made his token PR appearance at the United Kingdom Championship Tournament — at Hunter's side, no less — Seth would've been perfectly content spending the rest of winter, spring and Mania season never thinking about Finn Bálor again.

But here he was, dressed in an impeccably tailored all-black suit, laughing bashfully as the guys wished him well on his recovery. As much as Seth did his very best to shrink and blend in with the locker room walls, even he couldn't help but just _stare_  at Finn's every move. His new beard suited him well, blended in perfectly with his animated face and bright blue eyes. His smile could've lit up an entire arena, no surprise there. Of course Seth's gaze kept lingering on his right shoulder, dreading any telltale signs that his range of motion wasn't like it was before. Inevitably Seth's thoughts circled back to far less PG territory, mostly idle snippets involving Finn's arms, Finn's mouth, Finn's naked chest...

_How the hell did I survive all those months without this?_ It was like every single Finn-related thought Seth repressed had come back from the grave and amalgamated into some demon-shaped fantasy that ripped his insides to shreds all over again. Seth closed his eyes and shook off his fugue before turning his attention back to the wrist tape and wrestling boots in his hands. As Seth got up to take off his coat and start changing into fresh workout clothes, a stage hand made some kind of announcement that called the cruiserweights elsewhere, the hubbub in the hallway gradually dying away. 

"... Seth? Seth Rollins, is that you?"

Seth was halfway through unbuttoning his shirt when he felt _him_ somewhere to his right. He debated ignoring his presence like a child before adjusting his clothes for modesty and turning to face Finn head on, tweaking his expression in some overly self-conscious attempt to play it cool.

"Oh, hey man, can't believe you're here!" _What the fuck are you doing, calling Finn "man"? He's not your friend._ "God... Finn, you look great."

"Yeah, thanks... listen, Seth, can we talk? Been meaning to have a private word for a while, actually."

Oh God.

Seth quietly ushered Finn to the corner of the room farthest from the door for some modicum of privacy. They hadn't been this close since that moment on the ramp after Finn relinquished the title— _his_ title, Seth soberly remembered. An entire heat death of the universe and a second Big Bang must've gone by since then. _Seth_ had been an entirely different person since then, for better or worse. 

Right. This was going to hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be so flustered if Seth actually shows up at Takeover: San Antonio.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small disclaimer that this chapter was posted Saturday morning before the Rumble and Takeover, so if real-life events turn out differently... yeah.

"So," Finn began. "Looks like you've had an interesting couple of months."

"Yeah, bit of an understatement." Seth had a nervous chuckle. "Owens and Jericho. Who'd have thought, huh?"

"I've wrestled both of 'em. They're a handful individually, but together..." Finn cringed. "Yeesh."

"Hey, at least it's never dull. It'll be so worth it seeing Jericho in that shark cage tonight."

"How's your ribs?"

"My ribs?" Seth asked quizzically.

"You know, from that gutbuster you took at Clash of Champions. That looked pretty scary."

Noone's asked Seth about his rib injury for months now. He was surprised Finn still remembered. "It's okay. Or as well as you'd expect from guys like us. Just had some shitty luck that night, is all."

"Good... that's good to hear." Finn sounded genuinely relieved Seth made a full recovery. "Hey, amazing match Monday, by the way. You an' Sami really brought the house down."

Seth's face lit up. He puffed his chest out in a playful show of boastfulness. "Eh, I try. Musta been rooting for your boy Zayn the whole way, huh?"

"Of course I was. But even I can see you were on fire that night."

That gave Seth a small confidence boost. As much as Sami still playfully denies ever having wrestled in Ring of Honor, Seth remains grateful for all the years they spent there, honing their skills and butting heads with the best of the best.

"I realize it's no comfort, not being in the Rumble anymore." Finn added in a somber tone. "I know how much main-eventing Mania meant to you."

"Nah, I'll figure something out," Seth shrugged. "Maybe I'll steal Jericho's number, or sneak in as part of the New Day."

Finn struggled to muffle his giggles, covering his mouth with a few undignified snorts escaping. "Jesus, just imagine you coming out in Big E's onesie," he wheezed. 

"Hair up in pigtails like Kofi, carrying my own Francesca." Seth mimed playing a trombone while shaking his hips.

"Handing out bowls of cereal while guys are still brawlin' in the ring..."

"Pointing at the Wrestlemania sign with a unicorn horn on my forehead..."

"Comin' out of a giant Booty-Os box with your ugly mug on it!" 

"Hey, I am not ugly!"

"Whatever you say, man." At this point Finn could barely contain himself, bending over and shaking violently with laughter. "Sorry, just takin' the piss."

"It's cool, buddy, it's cool," Seth snickered as he wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. He realized he could get used to this, making Finn laugh. "So is that why you're here? Gonna be a surprise Rumble entrant?"

"Ahh," Finn turned away sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Honestly, I'm not even sure. Trainers had a look at me yesterday, but won't give me their final answer 'til later. So... fingers crossed, yeah?"

"Yeah, good luck there." Seth nodded at Finn just because he hated standing still, fidgeting from sheer nerves and awkwardness. "Finn... why did you wanna see me?"

"I guess this is me giving you a heads-up, if that makes sense?" Finn put his hands on his hips and looked up at the ceiling, like he was carefully considering what he was saying next. "See, I had a long talk with the brass after SummerSlam—"

"I don't regret anything I did that night," Seth blurted. That was mostly true, but probably the wrong thing to say. Seth wanted to slap himself for choosing now to protect his precious ego. "But... jeez, I hate that things happened the way the did. Finn, I've been there. I'm really sorry you got injured, if I could do everything over-"

"Seth, I get it. Shit happens. Just the nature of the beast, you know?" Finn took a deep breath. "But here's the thing. Vince, Hunter, everyone else? They were _not_ happy. Newly-crowned champion getting injured as soon as he wins the thing? God, they were _furious._  All those grand plans flushed down the toilet. And... for a while there I thought that they were letting me go, that I'd become a liability to them what with me getting my labrum wrecked at the worst possible time."

"Finn, no!" Seth said in disbelief. "They'd be crazy to let you go now. You're too damn good for them to drop you like that."

"Yeah, you have no idea how many times I had to tell myself that the past few months." Finn laughed bitterly as he crossed his arms, retreating into himself like a wilting flower. "Even after they paid for the surgery, paid for my rehab, let me hop on flights home just to see my old mates in the indies... God, even then I thought they were gonna pull the rug from right under me any minute. And if they didn't... well, I guess I was scared I'd end up like Hideo."

The mere mention of Hideo's name caused Seth's throat to seize up. Even after having feuded with Cena, Lesnar, Bryan, Sting and god knows who else, Hideo Itami remains one of the most intimidating wrestlers Seth's ever faced in his career. He should already have been called up by now, probably kicking the piss out of Miz or throwing it down with Neville and terrorizing the other cruiserweights. The fact that Itami was still languishing down in Florida after some moron dropped him on his head was a sobering reminder that wrestling really was fucking unfair sometimes.

Then Seth remembered how close Finn and Hideo were. Helping Hideo beat the Ascension was the entire reason Finn debuted the Demon at Takeover: R-Evolution in the first place. He tried to imagine how painful it was for Finn to see his friend bored out of his mind every day at the Performance Center for a whole year, wanting to wrestle but knowing full well he can't. And Finn would know all about the shit Hideo's been through: breaking your body a dozen times over, navigating the fraught backstage politics in Japan, getting this far in the WWE only to get stalled by stupid health issues.

"Fuck, man. I can't believe I forgot about Itami." Seth closed his eyes and hung his head low, fighting the urge to cry. 

"It's fine, Seth. He's struggling, but at least he's holding it together." Finn reached over and patted Seth's shoulder in consolation, and that was another thing Seth could get used to, the weight and warmth of Finn's hand on his body. "He really misses it, though. The ring, the crowd noise, hanging out with the guys, everything. But he'll get there again, I know he will."

"And so will you." Seth looked Finn right in the eye, wishing for a brief ridiculous moment it was possible to send telepathic messages through just a stare. 

"Well, sooner rather than later, I hope," Finn said. Seth had been keeping a tally of Finn's different smiles, and this one was smaller, softer and more heartbreaking than anything else he'd seen. It was nearly enough to make his bad knee buckle all over again. 

Finn's phone rang from inside his pocket, and he took a quick peek at the screen before muttering a quiet "fuck" and slipping it back in. "Seth, I guess all I wanted to say is that I don't hold it against you, everything that happened. But make no mistake, that Universal Championship's still on my mind. I don't care if I gotta wrestle Owens, Reigns, Jericho, Styles, Cena, Goldberg..." Finn paused. "You, again."

"No, no, I get it," Seth said. "Maybe next time we'll steal the whole damn show, put on an even better match than before." 

"Good, 'cause I _really_ enjoyed our last match, even with the searing shoulder pain." And there it was, that thousand-megawatt grin Finn brought out just for the cameras, the reporters, the swooning fans at ringside. The one that gives Seth heart palpitations still. "Anyway, really sorry but I gotta go. Good luck with whatever it is you're planning tonight."

"You too, Finn." Seth extended his hand in peace. "Can't wait to face you in that ring again."

Finn shook Seth's hand, patting his shoulder one last time before striding out of the locker room. Seth was about to get back to dressing for later when he heard a ringtone echo in the hallway, followed by Finn's voice fading in the distance as he answered his phone.

"Hello? Yep. On my way, Hunter."

That stopped Seth dead in his tracks. Finn had been talking to Hunter in private? Maybe it was nothing, purely a work-related thing. He was the COO and Finn's boss, after all.

But.

Suddenly Seth had no way of knowing if he could trust this Finn, not that he had much reason to before. For all he knew, Finn was already making mental plans on how to make Seth's life a living hell from here to Mania, either on Triple H's orders or as payback for his shoulder. _(Finn, please, I swear that was an accident, you gotta believe me)_  For some reason that frightened Seth, the possibility that he had just finished talking to a charming, handsome, ruthless two-faced snake at that very moment. It was even scarier than the prospect of meeting himself from two years ago.

_Hunter's done this before. Pulled someone aside, away from their friends and trusted allies. Poisoned them with his lies and easy grins, turned them into some twisted, nicely-dressed shadow of their former selves. Their **better** selves._

_The dorky, guileless Finn who wore his heart on his sleeve — the one you saw on stage that night at Raw — could already be long gone._

Seth was on autopilot the rest of the afternoon, changing into his gear and stretching as the locker room started to fill up with more people. He barely paid notice to them, nor the stage hand summoning him for the usual Royal Rumble promotional photo shoots. His mind kept wandering back to his talk with Finn, wondering whether he'd really made amends or had just been lied to.


End file.
